Hitching device



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(No Model.)

HIVTGHING DEVICE. No. 291,357. 4 Patented Jan. 1, 14884.

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JAMES r.` 4KEWEDY, or sIoUX. CITY, frown.

HITCHAING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of` Letters Patent No. 291,357', dated January 1., 1854.

' Application med september 29,. ieee. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom z't may concern..-

Beit known that I, JAMEs L. KENNEDY, a citizen of t-he United States, residing at Sioux City, in the-county of Voodbury and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in .NonePenetrating Strap- Hitches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in 'the art to which it appertai ns to make and use described and claimed, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a front elevation of my non-penetrating strap-hitch and the top of a hitchingpost to which it is secured. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a transverse vertical section, of the same.

A represents a hitching-post perforated by a hole, B. Over this hole the body C of my clamp is firmly secured in any suitable manner, as by the screws D. This body may be circular, as shown, or it may be rectangular or polygonal, as may adapt it to the object to which it is to be applied, or to suit the fancy of the purchaser. This body has ahole through it, which should be located over the center of the hole in the post.

E is a door or clamp hinged at G to the body C to swing into said hole.

H is a spiral spring around the hinge-pin G..

resting one end on' the clampingpiece E and the other end upon the body C, constantly pressing the clamp into the body.

F is a handle secured to the clamp. projecting outward and to the rear ofthe hinge. By pressing this handle backward or downward from the position shown in the drawings the clamp will be opened and a strap, J, may be inserted. When` the handle is let go, the

clamp will spring against the strap, holding `a horse would pull.

it firmly against the edge of the body C, resisting tension in the direction of the arrow a. Theelamping-piece E is of somewhat shorter radius than the width in that direction of the 5 5 hole it enters, but not enough shorter to leave a space above it when closed equal to the thickness of common leather straps. By this means the strap will be firmly gripped between a corner or edge of the clam ping-piece and the 6o adjacent corner or edge of the body, and the harder the strap is pulled in the direction of the arrow the closer the clamp will be pulled thereby and the more firmly said strap will be held, while it may at any time be freely pulled 65 in the opposite direction through the clamp.

The arrow indicates the direction in which Therefore the pulling of the horse will draw the clamp against the post. The clamp, thus held, requires only light fast- 79 enings to secure it to the post, while if it were faced to clamp in the opposite direction any pull on the strap would tend to tear the clamp from the post. The advantages of this hitch over the common post hole or ring, into which 7 5 the strap must be tied, and over a buckle having a tongue to penetrate the strap, are that, iirst, it is much more easily used; second, it is a safer hitch, as a perforated strap is weaker at the hole than elsewhere, and when held by 8o abuckle-tongue in the hole it is yet more forcibly strained at this point; but my clamp-hitch does not require holes in the strap, though it will hold a strap having holes in i The body of my clamp might be made the 85 top of the post and have the clamping-piece hinged directly to it.

The clamp may be ornameuted in any manner, as by embossing, plating, to suit individual taste. 90

I am aware that serrated cams hinged to swing against and rest upon serrated tangent planes, both within the head of a bitching-post, are not new. Such are not my invention, and I donot claim them.

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A metallic body-plate having an aperture through it, in combination with another plate hinged to swing into said aperture freely past roo the edges thereof, a spring acting between the body and the hinged piece to close the latter,

and a handle thereon, substantially as de- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 1o scribed, whereby a strap may be held between presence of two witnesses. the adjacent edges of the two plates.

2. The combination, with a bitching-post JAMES L. KEN N EDY. having a hole through it, of a perforated metallie plate secured to the post over the hole Witnesses: therein, another plate hinged to swing on the H. W. CHASE,

' rst plate, a spring for closing the same, and OHAs. F. OLIVER.

a handle thereon, as shown and described. 

